N. Uralaa (2), H. Heymann (2), M. Lylya (1), L. Lähteenmäkia (1)
1 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, FI 02044 VTT, Finland
2 Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, CA 95616, USA
To investigate possible differences in attitudes to socalled functional foods (FF), respondents from Finland, France and Sweden (n=353, 410 and 394, respectively) scored 26 functional food (FF) related attitude statements (1=Disagree strongly, 7=Agree strongly).
The FFquestionnaire was based on our earlier studies (Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2003; 2007). The overall means of the statements showed neutral ratings in each country varying between 4.3 and 4.6, the Swedes being more positive than the Finns and French (p<0.05, Tukeys’ post hoc).
Clusters (KMeans Clustering) showed different attitudinal groups, but these groups were similar across the countries. In each country, there was a cluster including participants with clearly positive statement ratings. In Finland and France, but not in Sweden, a small cluster comprising from the most negatively rated participants was found.
The Finns and French seemed to share a similar structure behind their attitudes towards FF, whereas the Swedes’ attitudes seemed to form divergently (Explorative Factor Analysis). In Finland and France the rewarding feelingfrom using FF was the strongest part of the FFattitudes explaining 20% of the total variance in both countries. Unlike the French, Finns differentiated between confidence and suspiciousness towards FF. Swedes, in turn, seemed to differentiate the FFstatements based on the wording: 10 negative worded statements loaded on the first dimension and 10 positive on the second suggesting that the attitudes may have not been established yet, and the Swedes respond to the wording.
The differences in attitude dimensions indicate that the factorial structure of the FFquestionnaire should be reworked for the specific population of interest. A common dimension describing the attitudes towards a possible overdose of health components was extracted in each country suggesting that Europeans share doubts about how to fit FF safely in their normal diets.
References:
Urala, N. & Lähteenmäki, L. 2003. Reasons behind consumers’ functional food choices. Nutrition & Food Science, 33, 148158.
Urala, N. & Lähteenmäki, L. 2007. Consumers’ changing attitudes towards functional foods. Food Quality and Preference, 18, 112.
